Ever Changing Willow

[labell]

My little girl is growing up so fast she weighed in at 432 grams this morning. She is flying and landing like a pro! Clumsy cannot be used at all in her flight description. She can land on a dime or on my out stretched hand while I am trying to get pictures of her!

She is talking already which is quite amazing I have heard her say Willow and what are you doing while not super clear yet there is no doubt that this is what she is saying. Of course she makes lots of kissing noises, it has always been a habit of mine while feeding babies when they are finished and I am cleaning their little faces to make big kiss noises at them so they associate that noise with the comfort of being full.

Are you ready mom?

Ready or not...

 

[Allee]

Bravo, Willow, you gorgeous girl!!!

Laura, you and Willow are an extraordinary team! I bet her voice is as beautiful as her appearance. Watching her grow up is a real treat! Thank you for sharing Willow's story and your skill with a camera.

 

[Birdman666]

See, the one I found was an incredibly good flyer as well...

Tusk, NOT SO MUCH! He is the quintessential clumsy CAG! He was allowed to fledge properly... he just never quite got the hang of it.

He doesn't so much slow down to land, as he prepares to PLF (in the skydiving vernacular!) He quite literally bounces off things... (like walls, for example.)

"Tusk could you not see that you were flying straight and level into a FRIGGIN' WALL?! And you have the nerve to look surprised when it didn't move out of your way?!"

My other four can navigate corners on the fly, and land on an arm or a shoulder... Tusk aims for a spot on the wall above you, and bounces off - like a bank shot - and you're supposed to catch him!

(Then he looks at you like, What?! I meant to do that...) :32:

 

[labell]

See, the one I found was an incredibly good flyer as well...

Tusk, NOT SO MUCH! He is the quintessential clumsy CAG! He was allowed to fledge properly... he just never quite got the hang of it.

He doesn't so much slow down to land, as he prepares to PLF (in the skydiving vernacular!) He quite literally bounces off things... (like walls, for example.)

"Tusk could you not see that you were flying straight and level into a FRIGGIN' WALL?! And you have the nerve to look surprised when it didn't move out of your way?!"

My other four can navigate corners on the fly, and land on an arm or a shoulder... Tusk aims for a spot on the wall above you, and bounces off - like a bank shot - and you're supposed to catch him!

(Then he looks at you like, What?! I meant to do that...) :32:

Hey Mark what do you think of her color and weight? She seems large to me for her age and very light silver. Wondering if she will be on the larger side when fully grown?

 

[JerseyWendy]

GASP! Holy smokes, Laura, she's grown up so much! She looks fabulous! And so very happy and content! What a gorgeous, BIIIIG girl you've got there.

 

[Birdman666]

She's definitely a silver gray, probably going to be in the mid to upper 500's...

545-585 is about right for those guys.

If the bird keeps growing, and gets above 600, it's probably one of those Lake Victoria Island grays... which is pretty rare. But those guys end up being AT LEAST 625. Usually in the 650-700 gram range.

She's already above the normal 425 adult weight of a coastal gray, with more growing to do, and the feathers are lighter...

 

[Kiwibird]

Yay! A Willow update

She is really rowing Laura! And becoming a big, beautiful girl. 432 grams is bigger than Kiwi How much to CAGs normally weigh?

 

[labell]

Yay! A Willow update

She is really rowing Laura! And becoming a big, beautiful girl. 432 grams is bigger than Kiwi How much to CAGs normally weigh?

I am not actually sure, I know she is the largest baby grey I have ever fed. Kay's pairs that I fed when I was younger were imports and their babies were much darker and smaller than Willow. Mark had some excellent observations in another thread on grey size.

 

[Birdman666]

Yay! A Willow update

She is really rowing Laura! And becoming a big, beautiful girl. 432 grams is bigger than Kiwi How much to CAGs normally weigh?

Depends on their point of origin in Africa...

The smaller coastal grays tend to be in the 375-425-ish range. Rarely get above 500-ish.

The larger Silver grays tend to be in the 525-600 range. Rarely below 500-ish.

The Lake Victoria Island CAGS are Monsters! 600-725 grams... (Those birds are supposed to Average out at 700 grams! So, yeah, stick two Kiwi's together... ) Rarely below 625-ish. Usually around 700-ish.

The story is basically that these birds migrated from the islands off Africa to the content. The birds that stayed on the coast were the smaller, and less hardy of the flocks.

The birds that pushed inland, were the larger, stronger, and hardier, and when they got inland, they found more food. So they continued to grow larger. Their plumage is also a slightly lighter color.

One flock grew in abundance, in total isolation and almost entirely free from predators on Lake Victoria Island. (Like what happened with the Tres Marias DYH's, and the "Bolivian" (from the Columbian interior) macaws) THOSE birds grew to an unusual size...

They are all the same subspecies of CAG, but there are variations in size and color based on their point of origin.

 

[GreatBlue320]

She's beautiful. And I love her name!

 

[labell]

Yay! A Willow update

She is really rowing Laura! And becoming a big, beautiful girl. 432 grams is bigger than Kiwi How much to CAGs normally weigh?

Depends on their point of origin in Africa...

The smaller coastal grays tend to be in the 375-425-ish range. Rarely get above 500-ish.

The larger Silver grays tend to be in the 525-600 range. Rarely below 500-ish.

The Lake Victoria Island CAGS are Monsters! 600-725 grams... (Those birds are supposed to Average out at 700 grams! So, yeah, stick two Kiwi's together... )

Wow! I would love to see what a 700 gram Grey looks like in person!:32:

 

[Birdman666]

I've only seen one of these... (a 715 gram CAG!) Exact same coloration, it's just that the top of Tusk's head came up to his neck. (And the coastal CAGs come up to Tusk's neck.)

Until then, I didn't think they made them much larger than Tusk's size. But apparently this one little island in the middle of Lake Victoria has a flock of CAGS where 700 grams is considered "normal"...

But HEY! Set a Tres Maria down next to a "normal" DYH, especially one of those Panama DYH's and you get the same sort of size issue, with a HUGE color difference. Same species... different bird!

It's straight out of Darwin...

 

[Birdman666]

Here's a photo I found online of one of the wild Island CAGS. He looks like a big 'un...

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/571323902699487210/

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

OMG! I just LOVE the pic of willow flying to you!! I'm soooo jealous!! I want another grey! I want another grey!!



Jim

 

[RavensGryf]

Willow is a beautiful young lady !

 

[LilChodi954]

Since we're talking about big CAG's I've attached a few photos of Sasha, I believe she's around 475 grams. Gizmo (DYH) is our heavy hitter @ 560 grams and I included one of the 2 of them together.

 

[JerseyWendy]

ROFLMAO @ Gizmo being the heavy hitter!

BEAUTIFUL birds! Both Sasha and Gizmo!!

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

WOW...Gizmo is a biggie! And Amy's doctor called her "chubby" at 509 g's lol


Jim

 

[labell]

Willow is a sweet heart and the biggest baby grey I have ever fed. Today she was having fun flying around and landing on my head!! She also decided to eat MY lunch with me, some watermelon and banana. Needless to say I had to change afterwards she rubbed her foody beak all over me.

 

[kodimerlyn]

So sweet!!